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Month: August 2018

My Dad has really always been impressive to me. Growing up, he seemed to always be a little stronger, faster, and smarter at everything than me (and most other people too). He was an incredible athlete (I think he played 3 sports in high school and basket ball at WSU) and could beat me at everything, even ping pong which I played a lot as a kid. I once saw him throw a grown man over his shoulder out of a raft into the river in a water fight with only one hand on his life jacket. He has close to a photographic memory. He read about a book a week — usually history — and would remember most of it. He knew many constellations and individual stars that I just couldn’t retain the same way.

But it took me awhile to realize that he was a really big deal in the world of medicine. I noticed the respect that the other doctors, residents, and nurses had for him on the rare occasion when I visited at work. He was occasionally in the news paper and in 1978 he stared in an episode of Lifeline. That was amazing, but it was more about how he saved individual lives. My Dad’s true superpower was changing policy to save people by the thousands. He has a no-nonsense honesty and sincerity that either inspires or offends. He challenged the status quo and stepped on a lot of toes. He was hard to please but sincere in his praise when he gave it. I hope to have other doctors write more about his effect on policy as they know the details better than I do.

One of the biggest examples of when I realized what a big deal he is, was at the party in 1986 that the hospital threw for my dad when he moved to Oregon. I heard many incredible stories that night about my dad. The main roast was by the mayor or former mayor and he had the audience roaring. I wish I had it all on video but I don’t. Please share your stories below if you were there.

One story was about how he opened the burn unit while the hospital administrator was out of town. He invited the Mayor and the media so that it would be awkward to close right away. This part is captured in the newspaper article below. I also heard stories about the Moscone-Milk shootings, my dad threatening to fire doctors that wouldn’t treat AIDS patients, a patient with an arrow in his backside, a mugging victim shot in the heart in the alley behind the hospital (he lived), and numerous other amazing medical feats.

To view the article: right click and save image to computer, then zoom in. Apparently, the big paper in The tech city is not yet digitized.

My father is Don Trunkey. He was a renowned trauma surgeon and is finally retired to Idaho. This web site will be about his life and achievements.

Basic Biography from OHSU:

Donald Dean Trunkey was born, raised, and educated in the state of Washington. He graduated with an M.D. from University of Washington in 1963 in the hope of becoming a General Practitioner. He interned under J. Englebert Dunphy at the University of Oregon Medical School, who became his mentor and turned his focus to surgery. When Trunkey was drafted into the Army, Dunphy went to San Francisco to begin one of the first trauma centers. He brought Trunkey in to join him after his service, and also got him a surgical Fellowship in Texas. On his return Trunkey rose to become chief of surgery for San Francisco General Hospital for 8 years. He then came back to Oregon to build a trauma system as Dept. Chairman over the next 15 years. An important interlude saw him as chief of surgery in an army hospital in Saudi Arabia during Desert Storm. After the chairmanship he returned to teaching and lecturing on a global scale as a Professor and Professor Emeritus.

His varied experiences influenced his thoughts and actions on trauma care. In the Army rampant alcoholism led him to institute A.A. programs. In San Francisco the drug wars of the ‘60s made him both an expert in gunshot wounds, and an advocate for controversial measures like gun control and drug legalization. Work with traffic accident victims led him to lobby for seat-belt and helmet laws. Likewise, exposure to the Texas Burn Unit not only led him to replicate one in San Francisco, but also to research fire-retardant clothing and self-extinguishing cigarettes. His wartime service likewise gave him an up-close look at the current state and problems of combat medicine.

Trunkey’s decades-long involvement with trauma and trauma systems led to new surgical protocols of both invasive and non-operative types; the authorship of hundreds of articles and book chapters; the delivery of innumerable lectures; and participation in over 30 professional organizations.